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I am trying to connect my guitar amp to my line-in jack, so that I can record to my computer. I have an Acer Aspire V5-573, running Windows 8.1. I have installed the Realtek Audio Drivers / Audio Manager. When I plug my amp into the input jack, the audio manager opens a dialog to ask what device I plugged in:

Image of the dialog

I choose "Headset" (since the other two options are "Headphone" and "Speaker Out"), and click OK. The problem is that when I open my audio software, it does not register any sound from the input device.

I know this is similar to this question - How to make Windows 8.1 recognise/use the inline mic of headphones connected to a dual input - but my version of the Realtek Audio Manager seems different: it has no folder icon, and no advanced options.

Another strange anomaly is that when I tried this on another computer, the dialog that appeared (like the one above) had more options in, one of them being Audio Input -- this allowed me to record on that machine. But that option is not in the list in the dialog on my current machine.

Tetsujin
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tibubuntu
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    Are you *absolutely certain* that's a line in, or is it a headset in/out? My guess is it's expecting a stereo TRS or even a TRRS plug & you're just confusing it with a mono jack. Note: a mic input is absolutely no use to you for an instrument. You'd be better off getting a cheap dedicated external USB device - one specifically for the task, not a generic one. They start around $£€ 30. – Tetsujin Aug 10 '19 at 16:13
  • Given the list of options, I guess it's a headset in/out. But I was hoping I could use it anyway. Thanks for the recommendation. Assuming I don't follow it up (which I may) it sounds like you think the problem lies with the kind of cable I'm using to connect the two sides. – tibubuntu Aug 10 '19 at 16:30
  • Also, @Tetsujin, if you don't mind, what kind of USB device do you mean? I'm not sure what to google for... – tibubuntu Aug 10 '19 at 16:31
  • Well, that's the start of the problem - the larger problem will come when you try to connect a line out to a mic in … There are 3 types of 'musical' input commonly found on consumer & semi-pro devices, broadly mic, line & instrument. Each has very different requirements. The absolute worst combination is trying to plug a line [your amp's output] into a mic socket. The line out is going to be pushing 10x the voltage the mic input is going to be happy with. – Tetsujin Aug 10 '19 at 16:35
  • if you look on a music shop to start with, that will give you a million options you can start to hone your choice from. I picked this one as just one of the big box shifters in EU [no recommendation or affiliation] https://www.thomann.de/gb/usb_audio_interfaces.html?oa=pra Sort by price & look at the ones at about 30. They will often give you line, instrument AND a phantom powered mic option at that price - so you won't need to look for another one as soon as you want to plug your guitar straight in to use a virtual software amp or add a vocal track. – Tetsujin Aug 10 '19 at 16:40
  • This is the kind of thing I'm thinking as your start point [again no actual recommendation but Behringer are right on your entry-level for 'proper' music gear] https://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_u_phoria_um2.htm – Tetsujin Aug 10 '19 at 16:43
  • @Tetsujin Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. – tibubuntu Aug 10 '19 at 16:58
  • Welcome - shall I throw some of this rambling into an answer? – Tetsujin Aug 10 '19 at 16:59
  • Please do. Also, while I'm exploiting you, I'd be interested to know if instead of one of these audio interfaces, an external sound card would do a similar job. – tibubuntu Aug 10 '19 at 17:01
  • Basically they're all 'external sound cards' - they're just designed with a musician in mind rather than someone who wants a second headset or to plug in their iPod. Horses for courses. You're not going to beat that €30 price point & have something [new] worth having. – Tetsujin Aug 10 '19 at 17:18

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We hacked a lot of this out in comments [above at present but may not last forever] so here's a précis of our conclusions.

Firstly, the laptop is expecting to see a headset with mic in & stereo speakers out.
Plugging in a mono jack is going to confuse the system, as impedances are not going to match the range it should be expecting from a headset. [The best guess as to why it worked on another machine is that the other machine may have had a switchable mic/line input - as a hard/software combination; we may never know.]

Replacing the mono jack with even a correctly wired TRS plug is still not going to be successful because of the massive difference in levels output by the 'line out' of a guitar amp.
Consumer & semi-pro levels can broadly be described as mic, instrument & line. Each has different impedance & voltage requirements, though many interfaces can handle all 3 on the same socket, they have hardware switching & level-matching controls to prepare them for each type. A consumer laptop or generic €5 "USB sound card" cannot handle a line output to its mic input; the voltages are just too mis-matched.

This really leaves 'buying proper stuff' as the only truly valid option.

To decide which 'proper stuff' to buy, a music shop is going to be the best start point. I posted a link to Thomann, simply because they're one of the EU's biggest box shifters so they have a lot of choice [no recommendation or affiliation].

Range of USB "sound cards" - input/output devices - from €10 to €6000…

Rather than buying one dirt cheap single-purpose device just for guitar at €15 & have to spend twice as much again later, it makes sense to anticipate future needs & look for something with line, instrument & mic with phantom power at around €30 - Something like this Behringer, a distinctly entry-level price point for this type of device. You might also be tempted for a little more to look at a 2-channel device, in case you anticipate stereo inputs at any point in future.

Once equipped with the necessary hardware, you will find your experience improves further by not using Windows' [or any other OS's] built-in sound drivers. If you use 'pro' software, Cubase, Logic etc then this will be handled by that software itself. For the lower-budget end of the market there is such as ASIO4ALL which will enable you to achieve lower latency [delay] in your audio chain.

Tetsujin
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